Nicolas: "I'm just waiting for signing Day"

Matei

12/17/2006

Just a few weeks ago the Rutgers program got a major shot in the arm by securing their first commit over once-powerful Miami. Rutgers Football Head Coach Greg Schiano decided to stay home and continue the job he's begun. This weekend, the Rutgers Football team bested the Miami Hurricanes once more by securing the services of one of the top overall prospects in the sunshine state: Joseph Nicolas.

Joseph Nicolas (Homestead Senior HS, Homestead FL), who was being recruited as a Safety by Rutgers, selected the budding power over the once-mighty Miami Hurricanes, Arizona State, Wisconsin, Central Florida, and others. Nicolas had taken official visits to all previously mentioned schools except Miami. The Hurricanes, however, are no longer in the picture and will not receive an official from Nicolas.

"I was supposed to take one [visit] in January, but I'm not going to. They haven't been notified yet but I'm going to let them know this week. All I'm waiting for now is for LOI Day and to sign with Rutgers," stated Nicolas.

This was Nicolas' fourth - and now final - official visit. Despite the differences between the cities of Miami and New York City, Nicolas was not fazed by the bright lights one bit.

"It's different, but it's very nice. Everything was real nice. I had a lot of fun up there. There wasn't really anything that was unexpected for me. Coach Demo [Rutgers' DB Coach, Chris Demarest] prepared me for everything," continued Nicolas.

Coach Demarest, who's landed a number of HS standouts since his arrival on the Banks, was Nicolas' primary recruiter, and Nicolas made it undeniably evident as to the primary reason why he'll be donning Scarlet for the next four or five years.

"At first, Coach Demo was evaluating me earlier in the year, but I was injured so he could only see me on tape. When the season began he came down for one of my games and saw me in person and just said that he 'had to have a player like me'. He's just a down to earth guy, but he's a fun guy too that just wants you to become better and better," said Nicolas.

Besides his strong relationship to Coach Demarest, Nicolas was left impressed by the Scarlet Knights practice session he witnessed on Saturday. The organization and the very fact that every practice play has a specific focus with game-time always in mind, gives players the idea that practice is not just for its own sake, but an opportunity to get better. "In the stadium, which was really nice, they had that big screen in there and they were blaring out all that noise to make it related to a game-time situation."

Nicolas was also impressed with the campus, and in particular, with the facilities and academic support system: "The weight room is just great up there. But I was also speaking with the academic support people there and that played a role too." Nicolas states that although he isn't certain he is leaning towards a Business Management major after while at Rutgers.

The 6-foot-2 and 195-pound south Floridian stud stated that the only thing left to do at this point in his recruitment is to sign with Rutgers when the date arrives. Moreover, his excitement - "focus" may be a better word - about his impending arrival on the Banks could not have been made more obvious than by his closing comment:

"They [Rutgers] are on the way up and there's going to be some national championships up there very soon."